The march
Shaimaa al-Sabbagh was participating in a small march in downtown Cairo on January 24, 2015. The group was carrying flowers toward Tahrir Square to commemorate people killed during the 2011 uprising. Contemporary reporting described the gathering as peaceful.
Police moved to disperse the march. Sabbagh was struck and fatally wounded. Images and video of the event became widely circulated and prompted public outrage, as well as calls for a criminal investigation.
The first prosecution
Police lieutenant Yassin Hatem Salah was prosecuted over Sabbagh's death. In June 2015, a Cairo criminal court convicted him and imposed a 15-year sentence. The judgment treated his conduct as an unlawful act that caused Sabbagh's death rather than as a premeditated murder conviction.
In February 2016, the Court of Cassation overturned that judgment and ordered a retrial. That decision did not acquit Hatem; it required the case to be tried again.
Retrial and final sentence
On June 19, 2017, the retrial court again convicted Hatem and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. He appealed once more.
On July 1, 2020, Egypt's Court of Cassation issued the final ruling, reducing the sentence to seven years. Ahram Online reported that the seven-year term was final and not subject to further ordinary appeal.
What the conviction established
The final conviction established Hatem's criminal responsibility for the conduct that caused Sabbagh's death. The case also became a prominent example in debates over policing, protest law and accountability, but this page does not transform those broader institutional debates into criminal findings against people who were never charged or convicted in this case.
January 24, 2015: Shaimaa al-Sabbagh is fatally wounded during a small memorial march in central Cairo.
June 2015: Yassin Hatem Salah receives a 15-year prison sentence.
February 2016: the Court of Cassation overturns the first judgment and orders a retrial.
June 19, 2017: the retrial court sentences Hatem to 10 years.
July 1, 2020: the Court of Cassation reduces the term to a final seven-year sentence.
Current status
The criminal case is adjudicated. The final seven-year prison sentence imposed by Egypt's top appeals court in July 2020 remains the operative result located for this archive.
Sources
Archive context
This case is included in the Egypt archive. Related accountability files include The Death of Khaled Said and The 2012 Port Said Stadium Massacre.